By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
The Minister of Works, David Umahi has refuted media reports that he walked out on journalists during a meeting on Tuesday in Abuja.
It was reported that Umahi abruptly exited the ministry’s conference room where reporters who had waited for over 48 minutes were gathered.
Upon his arrival at 2:50 p.m. and after reciting the national anthem and pledge, Umahi asserted that the press was nonexistent.
He said, “There is no press here. The press conference is not held again when the press is ready.
“The permanent secretary and other directors should follow me to my office. The press is not existent.”
However, reacting to the reports in a statement on Tuesday, the minister’s Special Adviser on Media, Orji U. Orji, described the reports as a misrepresentation of facts.
Orji stated that the press briefing was shifted due to “unforeseen circumstances,” saying that the reports that his principal walked out on journalists were false.
He stated that the reason for rescheduling the press briefing to a more convenient date was in good faith and was communicated to the audience of all present.
He noted that the ministry has an “unwavering” relationship with journalists “as we see each other as partners in the development of our dear nation.”
The statement partly read, “It is to be noted that the decision of the management of the Ministry to reschedule the press briefing to a more convenient date was in good faith and was communicated to the audience of all present.
“My office took further steps to apologise and appeal to the revered journalists who agreed with me that the inconveniences caused by shifting the press briefing to another day were not deliberate.
“I must commend very highly the teeming members of the fourth estate of the realm who understood the explanations made by me on the exigencies that caused the deferral of the press briefing by the management of the Federal Ministry of Works.
“I must also invite to the altar of development journalism, the insignificant few who decided to go sensational by choosing unrelated captions to attract the interest of readers, just to smear the reputation of some of our celebrated leaders.”